The Curious Case of Michael Egnew

[johngarry]

vox populi say "cut him, forget him" and "loser, wasted pick, bust”… but over the last 15yrs our Dolphins have been the team of 'turn em loose, and see them turned into pros - playmakers - and Pro Bowlers elsewhere. hell, Welkers headed to the Hall! imo, this team has failed those "late bloomers" by insisting on cookie-cutter formulaic motivational tools, instead of gut instincts. why's Belichick so good at getting even the most malevolent malcontents motivated to think the "Patriot Way"? my guess, is using a simple parenting tool; find out what they value most about football (and life), and break them down with it. nothing motivates young'uns to come correct faster than removing or severely limiting their access to the thing they love the most. since EggFu's cap hit this season makes it cheaper to keep him… I say make him stand, not sit, on the sideline of every game… every game; home and away. make him water the guys along the sideline; have him slingin towels & Gatorade. being the teams $2.5m "Waterboy" will get pretty embarrassing at the clubs, and with his boys. and don't have him lift with the team; make him lift with the train staff only. make him eat at the back end table in the comm; have him shower after everybody else… guarantee you'd see a different Egnew.

Packers used similar tactics with James Jones… took 5 seasons… boy's and all-star now.

[dlockz]

vox populi say "cut him, forget him" and "loser, wasted pick, bust”… but over the last 15yrs our Dolphins have been the team of 'turn em loose, and see them turned into pros - playmakers - and Pro Bowlers elsewhere. hell, Welkers headed to the Hall! imo, this team has failed those "late bloomers" by insisting on cookie-cutter formulaic motivational tools, instead of gut instincts. why's Belichick so good at getting even the most malevolent malcontents motivated to think the "Patriot Way"? my guess, is using a simple parenting tool; find out what they value most about football (and life), and break them down with it. nothing motivates young'uns to come correct faster than removing or severely limiting their access to the thing they love the most. since EggFu's cap hit this season makes it cheaper to keep him… I say make him stand, not sit, on the sideline of every game… every game; home and away. make him water the guys along the sideline; have him slingin towels & Gatorade. being the teams $2.5m "Waterboy" will get pretty embarrassing at the clubs.

Packers used similar tactics with James Jones… took 5 seasons… boy's and all-star now.

Jones was productive most of his career

[shouright]

vox populi say "cut him, forget him" and "loser, wasted pick, bust”… but over the last 15yrs our Dolphins have been the team of 'turn em loose, and see them turned into pros - playmakers - and Pro Bowlers elsewhere. hell, Welkers headed to the Hall! imo, this team has failed those "late bloomers" by insisting on cookie-cutter formulaic motivational tools, instead of gut instincts. why's Belichick so good at getting even the most malevolent malcontents motivated to think the "Patriot Way"? my guess, is using a simple parenting tool; find out what they value most about football (and life), and break them down with it. nothing motivates young'uns to come correct faster than removing or severely limiting their access to the thing they love the most. since EggFu's cap hit this season makes it cheaper to keep him… I say make him stand, not sit, on the sideline of every game… every game; home and away. make him water the guys along the sideline; have him slingin towels & Gatorade. being the teams $2.5m "Waterboy" will get pretty embarrassing at the clubs, and with his boys. and don't have him lift with the team; make him lift with the train staff only. make him eat at the back end table in the comm; have him shower after everybody else… guarantee you'd see a different Egnew.

Packers used similar tactics with James Jones… took 5 seasons… boy's and all-star now.

I think you're misattributing the Patriots' ability to assimilate problematic players to Belichick, when the real responsibility for that lies with Tom Brady and the very strong culture of player leadership that has evolved over time there. Belichick certainly has his strengths, but I don't think he's the one that drives this particular bus.

[2413fanphins]

If the guy doesn't see the field in the upcoming year than it's time to panic. there is this ridiculous train of though by some coaching staffs, that you go out on a limb and develope players you see things you like about...

it was widely talked about on this site that philbin had his hands all over the egnew pick... perhaps he thinks he can do something there. in hard knocks, sherman told egnew he would cut his ass... that hasnt happened yet.

yea he was a third round pick... and he didn't play last year. whine and cry about that til hell wont have it I guess.. none of it matters if he contributes next year, and if he doesn't you think about dropping him...

too many people on this site are either all in or folding players way too early IMO..

[mfish41]

The fascination with this guy is unreal to me.

1. It's a position where we've needed a desperate upgrade for a few years now
2. It was one of the picks from the Brandon Marshall trade
3. Local guy TY Hilton was still on the board at a position we also needed desperate upgrade to

[hooshoops]

ops take is pretty much exact opposite of what i saw on tape and senior bowl week with egnew...

[raving]

I do not know ANYTHING!

My guess is the guy had a health issue.

People are too quick to judge.

He may have been fine leading up to the draft and gotten hit with something that laid him out and Philbin has enough integrity not talk about it.

Just a theory!

[madmic21]

I think the word we are looking for here is raw. And when you are dealing with a raw player you can usually point to two reasons. Lack of coaching or lack of willingness to be coached. I am a pitching coach at the high school level, and a lot of times I run into kids that for one reason or another it is hard to get them passed that raw aspect. Lack of willingness in mind also includes the ability to translate what you are teaching them and showing them into action. Sometimes it clicks. I have a really talented sophomore and I started working a lot with him this fall and it was nearly impossible to get him to make minor although important adjustments. I could not figure out what to do... but when I started showing pictures of MLB pitchers doing what I was instructing him to do it clicked. I am not sure if he needed a higher voice to buy in or he just learns better this way. I am assuming a higher voice because now he seems to make the changes I advise quickly.

I think there has to be some ability in the guy regardless of what the scouts on here think. Will it ever translate? Maybe not, but I am hoping something makes things click for the teams sake.

[DefensiveEnd76]

He was a Tight End who played at the U of Missouri. Enough said. They all suck.

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------

The guy has no fricken muscle and looks like he's 225 pounds. Just another BUST.

[Miamifinz]

1. It's a position where we've needed a desperate upgrade for a few years now
2. It was one of the picks from the Brandon Marshall trade
3. Local guy TY Hilton was still on the board at a position we also needed desperate upgrade to

Over 250 people get drafted every year, with many more signing on to teams as undrafted FA. A lot of picks won't pan out and no one should be surprised if he never touches the field for us. If he's a bust (very likely) then we need to move on. We can't sit around and hope Egnew improves leaps and bounds and just roll with Fasano Clay and company again.

I understand he is a part of the trade for B Marsh but who cares at this point? If we end up getting shafted on that trade then so be it - cant force the guy to be a starter just because of Brandon Marshall. There were many reasons we let 19 go and no one should expect to replace his on the field production with two 3rd round picks. We missed on Hilton like an assload of other teams did as well, oh well. Im talking about one Mike Egnew.

It's not like he's some great player who knows the entire play book by heart and the coaches forgot about him. There's a reason Jeron freaking Mastrud is ahead of him on the depth chart and its because he isn't very good right now. That could change but if he could barely sniff the field with our horrible TE corps last year then that tells me nearly all I need to know.